Leave the great indoorsnotes on the journey

The discussion over the societal impact of social networking sites (like Facebook and MySpace) and other social media (like Twitter) will probably continue for many years to come.  There are certainly good arguments on both sides.  Those who feel too much time online takes away from personal face time with friends and family out in the “real world” have plenty of lonely teenager examples to back them up.  On the other hand, those who feel social media help people enhance their offline relationships have plenty of examples too.  Where do I stand?  Well, I take the easy answer — it depends on the individual, and what they use it for.  What follows is a story of how a simple 140-character post on Twitter led to one of the most invigorating experiences I’ve had in a long time.  But I still think, when it comes to social media… it depends.

Anyone who knows anything about me knows that I am a huge John Mayer fan (and those of you who don’t know me can tell from the title of this blog – yes, now is a good time to go search for “John Mayer Great Indoors” in iTunes).   In addition to owning all the CDs and going to his live concerts every time he’s in the area, I also follow his blog closely.  And as a Twitter user I was delighted to see that he also joined Twitter recently, so I followed him immediately.

Well, about a week ago, John Mayer posted this picture on Twitter, with the title Moving in, breaking out the vinyl:

For some reason, I couldn’t stop staring at this picture.  Music is an enormous part of my life, but I’ve never really been into vinyl.  This image — and the promise of the history and joy in this decades-old music — for some reason lit a fire under me to explore vinyl.

Well, as I started reading up about turntables and records online, I quickly realized that I had a lot to learn.  I also immediately understood that if there’s one thing all audiophiles agree on, it’s that nothing sounds better than a good record.  The sound ranges and emotions in analog recordings are simply superior to any digital recording.  (Well, there are exceptions of course.  I’m sure a Britney Spears record sounds just as bad as a Britney Spears CD.  As someone recently told me in a record shop — you can’t polish a turd…).

Anyway, far from being an expert, I set out this weekend to go buy my first record, Try! by the John Mayer Trio.  This just seemed appropriate seeing as I owe my new-found hobby to John Mayer, and I was pretty sure that blues lends itself pretty well to vinyl recordings.  But I didn’t have a turntable yet.  So I asked at the front desk of the music store (Rasputin, for those who live in the Bay Area) if anyone knew where I could buy a turntable.  They sent me to the Analog Room.  A mythical place they’ve never been in — in fact, they’ve gone looking for it but couldn’t find it.  But they assured me that it existed.  So off I went, in search of this mysterious place…

When I walked into the Analog Room it was like stepping into another time and dimension.  It’s a few rooms in a house, filled with record players, LPs, and 3 middle-aged guys arguing constantly about equipment, sounds, and of course, their favorite records.  I spent my morning there, listening first to my new John Mayer Trio record (“John Mayer is a lot of things, but well recorded isn’t one of them,” was their verdict), and then to the entire Folk Singer album by Muddy Waters.  From the first notes of that record I was hooked.  I suddenly had a huge smile on my face, and my new friend Brian pointed at me and said, “That’s why vinyl is better than CD.”  And I got it.  This was the real deal.

I now own a Rega P1 record player and 3 vinyl records: John Mayer Trio (even though the recording is apparently not that good), Folk Singer by Muddy Waters (of course I had to get that), and Axis: Bold as Love by the Jimi Hendrix Experience (the record in the top left corner of the photo above — wow, what a recording).  The sounds of vinyl are opening up new doors to experiencing music for me.  It’s like discovering a secret garden in your backyard.  I’ve only scratched the surface, and I know so little about this world, but I can’t wait to get more.  If you have recommendations for essential albums to own on vinyl, please let me know.

So anyway, that’s why I use Twitter.  Because every person in the world is interesting at least some of the time.  And if you just listen at the right time at what they have to say, your life will be so much richer.